


The Clearest Day

by notyourleo



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Memory Alteration, Post-The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Roadtrip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-06-23 22:11:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19710469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notyourleo/pseuds/notyourleo
Summary: By controlling the Mist in Piper's mind, Hazel accidentally unveiled the truth of her and Leo's past relationship before Camp Half-Blood. Now, Piper must deal with the schisms in her heart, and Hazel must comprehend the strength and magnitude of her own powers--and the dangerous consequences that came with them.





	1. What's Left Of Me

**THE CLEAREST DAY**

\---  
_you show me how to see_  
_that nothing is whole_  
_and nothing is broken_  
\---

Piper turned out alright.

Bouts of sadness would sometimes come to her, like waves washing away what was left of her happiness and pulling it into the sea, leaving only coarse hot sand that would take days to shake off. If she ever felt sad, she would take a short walk to Camp Half Blood's canoe lake, and then follow the stream to the beach, to Long Island Sound. There, she would dip her feet and wade into the water as far as she could go. She would look into the sea, forever if she could, and she would shut her senses from the outside world and meditate, not looking back.

It was not like Leo was all in her mind. She still functioned well on a daily basis. She was in the process of getting her own motorcycle license, and her father promised to get her a bike if she did well in school and behaved in camp. She and Jason were leading the camp's restoration committee and the peace talks for both camps, Greek and Roman, to live in harmony. The trades and economics that went behind the scenes were the most concerning issues especially with the war and the destruction spurned by mere misunderstandings between camps, along with the casualties that came with it.

There was nothing wrong with missing your best friend. Except, something else was buried in the heart that she stopped addressing long ago because if she resurfaced it, it was a whole different level of hurt. And ignoring this hurt was only aggravating her grief, and led to the walks towards the sea.

If only she could reverse time, and never have to learn the truth through an accident. Then maybe she wouldn't have to seek closure from him, as a way to heal.

***

What they did, it was supposed to be just for fun. Hazel had a special power. Hazel had amazing, awesome power, one that could not be trifled with lightly. What if she needed to do something that would be beyond her strength? What if she needed it to save a life? She needed practice. She needed absolute control. She needed to be a master of the Mist.

She and Piper were just sitting down and chatting and hanging out in Hazel’s room in the ship. They talked about their boys, her Jason and her Frank. They talked about their fears, their wants, their weaknesses. They talked about their past lives, the lives they lived before setting on to this journey.

“Do you think,” Hazel whispered to Piper, “that we can actually unveil something from our past lives? Like, see who were our previous reincarnations are, if we could unveil the Mist on our minds? If there is some kind of Mist in us at all?”

Piper would like to indulge herself in some meta-philosophical and metaphysical theories of the world and the worlds beyond their own, and with Hazel’s powers, they might be able to get an answer. “Make me your prime specimen.”

Piper closed her eyes. She felt a shuffling movement in front of her. Maybe Hazel doing magic hands or something. But she ignored that and let her mind go blank, as instructed. She needed to be in a meditative state, to be part of the world, to be one with it.

They sat there for a good minute. The ship quietly hummed around them. Piper’s lips twitched, and she fought down the urge to smile and giggle because this was silly.

But the Mist had been lifted from her eyes, and at that moment, the barrier between Piper’s spirit and the body disappeared. At that moment, she was one whole being. The body’s memories flowed into her mind and washed away the fabrications of the Mist. Phantom physical sensations pressed against her body. A kiss on her lips, hands touching her skin gently. She shivered as if she was reliving all of this once again as if she experienced them for the first time. Something was happening, these were memories, but she could not see what they were, only her body told her--

Her mind could not comprehend that fact so it started to reconstruct memories based on these sensations. The touches, the smells...with all these combined, she started to see memories fade in behind her eyelids. Blurry shapes mostly, but it was looking unto something without glasses. A sheepish brown boy with curly hair, so much hair that it almost hides his eyes. The hot flashes on his cheeks as she leaned close to his face. A cold night wind embracing them together, pushing them closer to each other.

So much more came to her. Now, Piper could see the Truth clearly. And the lies that blacked the mind through the shadow cast by the Mist.

A schism broke her spirit.

Hazel saw it all too. When the power faded, she stared straight at Piper, eyes wide in horror. She covered her mouth with her hands. “What...”

Piper stood away from where she sat as if her seat was on fire. She backed herself against the wall and rubbed her arms, trying to get rid of the goosebumps rising on her skin. The sensation of a kiss still tingled her lips.

She knew that the memories with Jason in Wilderness before discovering she was a demigod were fake. She knew they were fake and they were planted, but they decided to start over, and her love for him today was genuine. But why did she feel like she had betrayed him? Why did she feel like she had betrayed both the boys she loved?

Piper cried quietly the whole night. Hazel held her tight.

***

In the following days, they both tried to keep appearances to their friends. At day they did their rounds and routine, doing chores, keeping watch, fighting monsters. At night, Piper would go to Hazel's room to talk about the memories and to dissect them and her feelings They were doing it so much that it was making Jason ask peculiar questions about Piper's sexuality, to which Piper just laughed and waved away.

It was not the same between Piper and Leo. At least, for her. It was like having a secret crush, where any time he entered the room, she would freeze and her face would get red. The urge to hide her face from him was strong, but whenever she tried to leave the room, he would always come to her and be Leo all the same. He wasn't dense though, Piper sensed that. She knew Leo more than anyone else. She knew he was approaching her out of concern, all masked behind the jokes and banter they exchange.

If only she could open up to him about these feelings, but it seems like the Fates were preventing her to do it. She loved Jason too, but their union was important. It bridged the gap between the Greeks and the Romans. It signified the union between two camps. The Fates have tied them together, and she must carry this union until its purpose could be fulfilled. And from there, she hoped she and Jason could have a future together.

There were times she couldn't resist showing her love for Leo. Whether he would be whisked away towards an undersea battle, the restraints she placed on herself would come off. When he came back, she jumped out to sea and swam just to give him a kiss. When he was blasted away from the other side of the world by the goddess Khione, she worried for his return, if he was to return at all. It was her fault he was gone. If only she was stronger during this fight, she would have defeated Khione quickly, more decisively. Leo wouldn't have to be lost. After this incident, she took up the sword and swore to herself that she would protect the ones she loved.

Her heart broke when he was found and it became obvious that h changed. From the language he used, the faraway glances he would make when he faced the seas, she knew. He tried to keep it a secret, but she knew. She knew he had met someone when he was absent. Piper didn't want to say anything. What was there to say? She was with Jason. He was head over heels with this mysterious girl and did not know of their history together. Piper would take all the love Leo gave her. And she would try to get away with it as much as possible.

If only she was stronger, if only she was stronger...

  
***

In a grim meeting between the seven chosen demigods, they determine that it was Leo who would sacrifice himself to give the final blow to Gaea and fulfil that one crucial part of the Second Great Prophecy that all of them dreaded. The physician's cure, after all the ingredients have been painstakingly gathered to create this concoction designed to cheat death, has been assigned to Piper, to administer immediately to Leo at the moment of his death. It was carefully wrapped in cloth and handed to her. She made sure she kept it with her at all times. The final battle could come unexpectedly, and if anything were to happen, she wanted to be sure she could be with Leo as much as she could.

The night after the cure was given to her, Leo knocked on the door to her room in the Argo II. "Hey, Pipes? Are you alone? Is it a bad time for you?"

She wasn't sleeping, but she was in bed, her face against the pillow. She had remained like that for a long time, just deep in her thoughts. She lifted her head to speak. "You know you're always welcome to come to my room."

He sheepishly entered. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure in case Jason is here and I didn't walk into something rated R."

Her face became red. She talked to Leo about a lot of things, but he knew that they were curious teenagers and he designed the quarters of the demigods to be soundproof. This could prove a flaw in the ship's design in the event that something bad happened--like  
an evil god dropping in and trying to kidnap them--and no one in the ship would be able to hear the struggle, the screams, the chaos. But it saved them a certain kind of embarrassment for those who were in a relationship with each other.

Piper sat up on her bed. Her hair was all over her face and she didn't bother trying to brush it up. However, Leo reached out his hand and brushed the stray strands of her before it could land on her cheeks. His fingers almost touched her face.

She recoiled in surprise, her face turning redder than before, heart hammering against her chest. He realized what he had done and pulled his hand back.

"Oh. I'm...sorry." He placed the incriminating hand at the back of his head. "I-I didn't know what got into me."

"What do you want to talk about?" She quickly changed the subject.

"Well..." He took Piper's desk chair, spun it around so it would face her bed, and sat on it. "You won the lottery of who gets to inject me with godly fluids to bring me back to life. I thought maybe we could have a little talk."

"What's there to talk about?"

"Would you promise you wouldn't be angry at me? Whatever happens after the battle, promise me that you'll still be my bestest friend in the whole wide world?"

"Why would you ask me that? I'm always angry at you all the time." Piper laughed, and they both knew it was a joke. He laughed too, but it sounded a little painful. So she stopped and lowered her voice. "What's the matter? What's gonna happen?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know...I...." He shook his head and took her hands. The suddenness of this gesture almost took Piper back. "You know I don't like hiding anything from you."

"And I don't like hiding things from you, too," she lied.

"But...there's somewhere I need to go. Somewhere I need to be, after all of this over." He looked away from her, and Piper could gauge the distance seen in Leo's eyes. She knew immediately he wished to be reunited with the person he fell in love with when he went missing. Them meeting again would be such a happy ending it hurt Piper a bit. He was holding her hands but staring afar, thinking about another girl.

She couldn't help but say something. "It's this secret lover of yours, I get?"

He flinched. It seemed like he was hoping that this would be brought up. He brought his attention back to her again. "Is it written all over my face?" He said sheepishly.

She chuckled. It wasn't out of sadness, or pain, or jealousy. It was genuine. "No, but...it's written all over your heart. And I can read hearts."

"Of course. Typical, for a daughter of love." He thumbed his nose and leaned back in his seat. He had let go of her hands. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. I made a promise to her that I'll come back. But that's all I have to say. Sorry."

"I understand. I really do." This time, she was the one who took his hands and gripped them tighter. "You should go to her then."

"W-What?"

"Go. Once this is all over."

"I..." He swallowed, his eyes a little glassy. He didn't say anything right away, and just took in the words she had said. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Piper. Thank you." He lowered his head and brought Piper's hands up to his face, his lips and nose and his eyelids touching the back of her hands. She did not understand what this gesture meant, but it was intimate, respectful, so she let him be. "Thank you," he said again.

"This is nothing to make a ruckus about, you know. And I'll make sure this secret stays with me, okay?"

He finally let go and looked up to her eyes. It was so piercing. "Just because I have someone waiting for me doesn't mean that she's all I ever think about. Even in a perfect world where I have thousands of girlfriends, and thousands of wives in my lifetime, I know, at the bottom of my heart, you'll always be my number one girl." He put his hands together to form the shape of a heart.

Something about that triggered a wealth of emotions in Piper's heart. She got up and hugged him. "And I love you, no matter what."

They stayed in each other's arms for a while. Leo buried his nose in her hair, and the way he wrapped his arms around her was warm and so familiar.

"Can I ask you something?" Piper whispered.

"Hmmm?"

"Do you...remember?"

"Remember what?"

A big lump formed in her throat. She pulled away shakily. "Nothing."

"Remember what, Piper?"

"It's...well, I'm just messing with ya." She let out a laugh and lightly punched Leo's shoulder.

He looked on, confused. "Are you sure we're being honest with each other?"

 _Don't do this to me._ Piper had to fight the lump in her throat to be able to speak without croaking. "I was wondering if you remember about the Buford incident. You know, the Windex and the Maenads and all."

"Oh yeah. Wow, that was a long time ago. That was fun."

"It was."  
  
They sat in silence. Leo got up from the chair. "Well...I've let everything out in my chest. Thanks."

She smiled. "My pleasure."

***

A day before the inevitable clash in Acropolis, Piper and Hazel met once again before turning to bed. It was in this day that Piper had a revelation, on how she came to remember memories so buried deep in her, and why Leo never still had not remembered. "His heart does not remember, does it?"

Hazel tilted her head in confusion, but it wasn't complete confusion. Given the nature of her powers, anything was possible, and if this was something that could help them come closer to understanding what happened, then she would pay attention to what Piper had to say.

"The memories of his heart, they have been erased. Or they had been taken away. I was like that too...until you helped me."

"I...I wouldn't say I was 'helping' you when I see you often struggle with yourself, Piper."

Piper shook her head. "But I think I get it now." She placed a hand on her chest. "The reason why I remembered everything is because my body remembers. Like what the touch of his lips felt like when we first kissed. The gods have taken all those memories away from my heart, but they can't take away my body. They couldn't just swap it with fake sensations...Can they?"

"I think I understand now." Hazel moved forward. Truly, she didn't really understand, but she was slowly grasping it. "I...I brought down the Mist, the barrier of the physical and the spiritual worlds, and the body's memories seeped into your heart. It...recreated your memories from scratch."

"Hazel, you have this amazing power. If you know how to harness this right, then you will be the most powerful demigod alive."

"I..." Hazel looked down on her hands. "I don't want to have that kind of power. I mean, look what it has done to you."

"Don't worry about me. In fact, I'm actually happy." Piper sighed and looked into the distance. "Leo may not remember, but the memories are still in his body. And you know what...I'm okay with that." She clutched the physician's cure in her heart. "Everything is gonna be alright," she said to Hazel. "Once this is over, it's gonna be alright. We're all gonna be together, no matter what."

Hazel smiled, but it was almost tight-lipped, sombre.

***

It felt like a betrayal. The cure was not with her all along, but instead in the hands of a friend she thought she trusted so much. The power that Piper praised overwhelmingly because of the sheer potentiality it could do the world--was used against her in the end. Hazel conspired with Leo, to get what he wanted.

And Leo. Of course, he had asked for her blessing to leave Piper. To leave his friends, his family, to be with the one he loved. She knew he was going to go, but that was still a betrayal. Not this way. Not when she had to watch him die right in front of her eyes. Not when she had shed tears for him. Not when he had her heart broken again.

Once the puzzle pieces had fallen into place in her mind after the revelation of this deceit, Piper whipped her head to Hazel, and said hoarsely to her, "How could you?"

"I'm so sorry," Hazel whispered shakily. She looked at her hands, which she did every time she did something with her powers that felt wrong. "I...was an accomplice to his plans. I...I too wanted what I thought was best for him."

Piper sank to the ground, her head bowed down. "I can't be angry at you. I can't be angry at anyone. This is what the Fates wanted, right? You can't defy your destiny." She clutched her heart. "Is he gonna be okay? Just tell me he's going to be okay."

"I..."

Before Hazel could say anything, Piper let out a laugh. "Of course, of course. This was what he meant. It's that girl, isn't it? The girl he really likes." She shook her head. Tears streamed down her face. "Tell me he's going to be able to see her. At least tell me that was his plan all along."

 _That's if he was able to administer the cure on time_ , Hazel thought. Even she wasn't so sure whether Leo's plan would work. But Piper did not ask this question about the other girl in disdain. This was her way of asking whether he was going to live, and whether if one day, they would meet again.

Piper remained there, on the ground, quietly crying. She looked up to Hazel. "I always have a plan in my head. But now...I don't know what to do."

Hazel slowly knelt down and embraced her from behind. She could feel her own eyes stinging and swelling. "Me too."

***

Piper turned out alright.

She was here, at the sea. These bouts of grief first were happening every few days, but as time went on, and there was no sign of Leo returning--not even a single peep from him even though he was allegedly alive, somewhere with the love his life, Piper was at sea almost every day.

Piper didn't really want to be together with Leo. She just wanted closure in this past relationship that never really came to a conclusion; there was no messy breakup or a sign of progression in the relationship that could turn into something more, it was like pretending it didn't happen. And with Leo gone, she didn't get the closure she needed. She thought that the knowledge of Leo knowing that was enough for her, but now. Of course, it wasn't enough. Deep down she was still in love with him.

She let the days pass by. Time will heal and let her forget. Regardless of her feelings towards him, she knew Leo would come home. She just didn't know when. Nevertheless, she had to reinvent herself as if she didn't know the past they had together. If he ever came home, she would be the Piper he knew, and she needed to fix that.

It was so tempting to sink into the sea and cry underwater. And this temptation had made her wade deeper and deeper into Long Island Sound, day by day, step by step.

Was the water too, an illusion of the Mist? Was the world born from the Mist? What did the myths say about the creation of the world? Well, at this moment, it didn't matter. She was the only one who remembered the memories, who knew the truth. This was like her father all over again, taking the potion to forget the other side of Piper's life, a life of being half-god, and how she had to hide everything from him to protect her father. She was the only one between the two of them who knew the truth of Camp Half-Blood, of her other heritage. When she watched her father drink the potion, at that one moment, she felt so alone in the world.

And now, she was a keeper of another secret and a truth that was too heavy to carry with the remaining strength she had.

As her chin started to touch the water, she realized--through her grief and pain--that she wasn't the only one who knew the truth, and Piper had largely forgotten about it. It felt so long ago. She remembered now, who it was who revealed her the truth. For the first time, she broke through her meditation from the sea and looked back. Someone at the distance stood, waiting for her.

She was not alone.

There was two of them.


	2. Different Names, Much the Same

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SDFGRKHTHKdf LIFE HAS BEEN A ROLLERCOASTER FOR ME I FORGOT ABOUT MY BABIES FOR 8 MONTHS SO HERE THEY ARE ENJOY GAMErs
> 
> i'll come back to thoroughly proofread this and do more additions, just going to a rally brb dslfgkkhh

###  
 _All the warmth left in me, I feel it slip away_  
 _When tomorrow comes at last, will there be nothing left_  
 _If the beats of our hearts, were in synchronicity_  
 _Could I fall as far as you, could I feel the pain you do_  
###

Hazel saw everything. She wished she didn't, but she knew she was going to be the sole witness of a catastrophe that was to come.

Something about her actions had taken the notice of certain beings greater than she was--something she should be getting used to because her very existence in this time and space should already be an act of defiance in its own kind. But once more, she defied the Fates again, through the interference of two people's relationships, of giving one of them access to memories locked behind their eyes. 

It was an accidental thing, for sure, but she was conflicted. She was an intruder of their memories, of secrets, of something that could have naturally blossomed if it were not for the powers she had. Beauty that should have remained untouched and unseen, because it was not ready to be revealed to the world.

Hazel had followed Piper whenever she made the daily walks to Long Island Sound. She was always at a distance, pretending to do things whenever she feared that her friend would turn around and see her. She veiled a little bit of the Mist around herself when she believed Piper would begin turning around and heading back to the direction they came. But Piper never did turn around. She remained in that lost daze, only looking forward. Each day, she was going further and further away from the Camp, away from reality. 

An intervention must be done, but it should not be done through her. She told Jason of her concerns. "You have to talk to her. Please."

He did. He had talked to her more times than he could remember. He tried reaching down into her heart, several times, in every means that he could. He was raised by wolves and have heard the songs of the thunders he summoned. The Legion had tried to squash every bit of softness in him to become the leader he needed to be. When he had met Piper, he had understood warmth for the first time. He owed so much to her that it was really time to give her his own heart. 

They began travelling to find Leo. They travelled all over the states, and even went abroad twice. They were gone for a couple of months, falling in love and falling out of love, and this cycle seemed to be repeating itself in their relationship. They found something from each other that they love, and found something from each other that they didn't like. 

The resulting talks between them brought the end of the relationship. To give her space, Jason had moved out of Camp Half-Blood and into Los Angeles, to attend an onboarding all-boys private school. It was not at all one-sided, it seemed like a mutual break-up. Something seemed to have happened behind the scenes, as there seemed to be more issues in the relationship than Hazel would have anticipated in the beginning. 

Still, the guilt of once again interfering with the affairs of others haunted Hazel. How much more would she ruin? She was going to lose her friend. She was going to lose everyone she cared for.

###

Hazel kept following Piper to the sea. It was imperative now to save her. She could not continue to keep watching from afar. She no longer had the Mist be veiled around her like an invisible cloak. She would finally be out there, for her, to be by her side. 

She still wanted to give Piper the space she needed to think and heal. But it has really come to the point where these walks were doing more harm than good. Each day, Piper inched closer into the water. The sea was supposed to wash away her hurt and give her energy, not swallow her whole.

When the day came that it looked like she was going to lose Piper, Hazel had abandoned her usual post and began closing the distance between them. She cursed her conservatism and her anxiety around taking up space. Those things wouldn't matter if something bad would happen. 

"Piper!" Hazel yelled, dashing from the hills and into the beach. "Piper, please! Come back!"

Piper did not react. She seemed to be in a trance, consumed by her grief. She was seeing something different in front of her.   
  
"PIPER!" Hazel stopped at the edge of Long Island Sound. "PIPER, NO!"

Hazel had tears in her eyes as she screamed her name. She reached her hand out to her friend. At that moment, she wielded the power of the Mist to touch her mind and heart. Piper needed to resolve the schisms in her heart by herself and Hazel wanted to make sure she was no longer interfering, but right now, Hazel would do anything to save her. "I'm here for you! You're not alone!" 

Hazel sensed a cloud of doubt in Piper's mind, torturing her heart with painful, unresolved feelings, like pins and needles that were pricking her internally. With a wave of Hazel's hand, that cloud dispersed. She cast them into the skies. 

Piper finally stopped walking, with only her head above the water, and turned around back into the land. Hazel sobbed in joy and jumped into the sea. Piper didn't move but she looked wide-eyed at Hazel, who embraced her and pulled her back towards shore. The haze in Piper's eyes dissipated; she could clearly see now. "I..."

"It's okay," Hazel hiccupped, holding her friend tight as they collapsed together into the beach. "It's okay."

###  


Piper passed her motorcycle license examination. To celebrate, Tristan had gifted her the motorcycle of her dreams. It was delivered to her in Camp Half-Blood, parked in a lot far away from the Camp, where older campers in driving age would be hiding their own vehicles from the younger half-bloods.

Now, Piper had been seeing a mental health counsellor that was based in the Camp. It was difficult to be open about her situation. It took them several sessions to the counsellor that the crux of her issue was about how she felt about Leo and how she was going to resolve it. She left out details of the past memories, though. Now that she and Jason had broken up, and him moving away, she had no emotional support. Her friends were in Camp Jupiter busily restoring order. Hazel was here, but sometimes she was still pre-occupied with other things, being kept busy by her brother, Nico. 

Her dagger, Katoptris, was returned to her by Coach Hedge. She had grown fond of it despite its troubled ancient history. She looked at it often, hoping to find a vision, even if it was a terrible vision. When was Leo coming home? She and Jason had searched for so long that she had given up. The best way to find him was simply to wait. Festus was Leo's main mode of transportation, and the bronze dragon was pretty fast at getting around. No matter how close Piper could, Leo would always somehow uproot himself. That was just in his nature.

It both comforted and agonized her that someone else knew about these memories--memories so private and intimate. Agonizing because that person shouldn't know about these memories. Comforting because it made Piper less lonely. Ultimately, knowing that someone else were aware of her situation had prevented Piper from driving herself to insanity. Hazel understood, though. Hazel always understood everything.

Fall was approaching pretty soon, which meant that she would have to go back to school. She could do her education here in Camp Half-Blood, as Chiron had prepared services and programs already implemented for demigods who didn't have families to go back home to, but her father would want her back home, as he had expressed how much he missed her several times. Things were starting to settle down between the two camps, so she prepared to pack up for the school. It seemed like normalcy was the only way she could move on from all of this.

A week before she would move back to her father, she dreamed for the first time in many months. It was only a brief glimpse. In the dream, Piper saw three large volcanoes standing side by side. Ash was falling down as all three of these volcanoes have erupted. The sky behind these mountains, however, was beautiful. It was breaking into dawn, and hues of orange, yellow, pink, and blue mixed together so wonderfully that only in a painter's wildest and most vivid dreams could such image exist. 

The scenery shifted, and now it was just two hands trying to catch the ashfall. She couldn't see the rest of the person, but she didn't need to know whose hands they belonged to. These hands had bruises, cuts, and bandages. They were roughened up for working with machines too much, for always fiddling with things. The same hands that had brushed her hair. She had touched and held those hands. 

Piper woke up in her cabin. She didn't fling herself out as if she had a nightmare, but she was lying on her bed, holding her breath. She didn't need to process the information she had received from those dreams. She knew the meaning of it all.

She got out of bed and left her cabin, tiptoeing towards the Hades's cabin. She knocked on the door, hoping Hazel would be the one to answer, not Nico. 

The young daughter of Pluto appeared behind the door, looking a little sleepy. Once she saw Piper, she snapped herself awake. "Piper? What's going on?"

Piper let herself smile a little. "Would you like to go to Oregon with me?" 

###

From New York to Oregon, it was a 42-hour drive. They could have taken the plane to cross the state, but Piper feared that since she had just recently broken up with the son of Jupiter, she would be struck out of the skies, and 8 hours on the plane was enough time for such Roman god to contemplate whether or not to get rid of Piper. Besides, Piper wanted to bring her new motorcycle. She was excited at the prospect of doing a road trip with her new ride. 

Hazel, on the other hand, was not exactly thrilled in the beginning, because it meant that she would be hugging Piper's back holding for dear life for the rest of the way. Not to mention the supplies they need to bring in the trip, which were large and bulky. 

They had let Chiron know of the content and the context of the dream, and had made a plan to leave later in the evening to avoid the rush hour of the next day. The total amount of time to get to the other side of the country was less than two days, but they would make multiple stops along the way for food, gas, and rest, so Piper estimated that it would take at around a week to get there. Of course, they couldn't linger too long in those stops. She imagined they would also be met some resistance with monsters along the way. It didn't matter to Piper. Nothing was going to stop her from finally finding her friend. 

In the morning, Piper went to the Hephaestus cabin and asked the campers there if they could retrofit the motorcycle to accommodate more space for Hazel and the supplies. She told them where she was going and why she was going there, and all the kids perked up and immediately went to work. They also wanted to ham it up by adding weapons on it like rocket launchers, but Piper asked them not too, much to their disappointment. She wanted to leave as soon as possible since she sensed this was a time-sensitive mission, even though there was no indicator there was a deadline to meet.

Once everything was ready by nightfall, she hugged every Hephaestus child--Leo's siblings--and she put on her helmet and motorcycle glasses and took off with Hazel.

She loved how the wind blew against her as she sped through the highways. She loved the roar of the engine under her and she revved it. She loved how compact her vehicle was that she could skirt around cars on the road with ease. It gave her such a sense of flexibility and freedom that driving a car did not have. Granted, Festus could fly despite how big he was, but it was also good to be grounded once in a while. 

At the back, Hazel had more room to manoeuvre around thanks to the improvements of the Hephaestus children. She had her own seat that she could hold on to give some space between her and Piper. They were able to saddle their bags and weapons to the side of the motorcycle. In the first two hours, it was a horrifying experience since she didn't feel safe being that there had been no walls around her, but once she started to trust Piper and her driving skills, she too was beginning to enjoy the freedom of riding a motorcycle as well. 

They had planned to stop at a motel at around midnight to rest for the remainder of the night, but Piper continued to ride past their designated stop. Hazel spoke at the top of her lungs. "We can't keep going like this! We have to stop!"

"I know!" Piper revved the engine and the motorcycle lurched forward. The road was wide and empty, and it was hers to take. "But I'm not tired!" 

Hazel wanted to voice out that she was the one who was tired, but Piper's voice was full of fire and determination. So instead of saying anything further, she just wrapped her hands around Piper as tightly as she could and closed her eyes. Her sleep was fitful and shallow, especially when they would come to a stop for short breaks in the middle of the night. Eventually, Hazel mastered the art of sleeping deeply while sitting up in a moving open vehicle, even when she was not holding on to Piper. 

The next time Hazel was awake, she was in a bed in a small motel room, and Piper was sleeping besides her in the same bed. Hazel was sleeping under the blanket while her friend was on top of it. She looked out of the window and saw the motorcycle parked, basked in sunlight. 15 hours had passed since they left Camp Half-Blood. From the sleep marks on Piper's cheeks, they were probably resting for only 2 hours.

Hazel cuddled closely to her friend and went back to sleep.

###

When they hit Nebraska, the push back against the monsters was the most intense.

They kept riding through the state and barely made any stops. Hazel's back was against Piper's back almost the entire time, trying to fend off the flying monsters on their tail with her sword and whatever else she could use as a weapon. Whenever they had struck one out of the sky, two more would appear and follow them almost all the way. 

Gas was running out, Piper had stayed awake for more than a day, and Hazel was wounded all over. The monsters were showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, they were laughing in glee. Like vultures, they simply waited for them to eventually collapse before finally swooping in. 

"Damn it!" For the first time since they had begun their journey, Piper turned her motorcycle around. She killed the engine and faced the monsters. She got off and unsheathed her sword, marching slowly to the enemy line. The flying monsters of all kinds stopped and watched her curiously. She was facing them down alone. 

Hazel remained in the vehicle. She was too weak and too wounded to join her friend into battle and watched on with fear. When she tried to muster the strength to get up, she fainted before she could see who had drawn the first strike.

###

Hazel didn't know how long she had been out. She did not dream, nor stirred at anytime during her sleep. When she did stir awake, she was in a nice hotel room. She had a heat pad on her head, soft weighted blankets envelop her. Coming out of the washroom was Piper in her underwear. Hazel could see the cuts and wounds that had been sustained for that past few days they had been travelling. She seemed to be washing her clothes on the bathtub and drying them on the heater rack. 

"You're awake!" Piper exclaimed. "Thank goodness. We're at the last leg of the trip. I tried to dress you up as much as I could with our supplies. We're out of ambrosia and nectar. I don't know if there are gonna be some stores and suppliers along the way." 

Piper began folding her clothes and arranging her stuff in the bag. Hazel wanted to move, but these blankets were so comfortable. She croaked, "How long was I out?"

"Maybe two days. We didn't stop though. I had to basically tie you with me. We just got here, and I think we should stay for one night and then we'll set off tomorrow." 

Hazel let Piper do her thing of tidying the space and flitting back and forth between the main room and washroom. She had been mulling around with a few questions now that they were getting so close to their destination. "When you see him, what were you hoping to happen?" She said quietly.

Piper had begun folding some of the clean clothes that finished drying. "I don't really know. Why did you ask?"

"What if you see the girl Leo loves?"

At that, Piper froze mid-fold. "I...I don't know. It can't be helped if she was there." 

"Piper, I don't want you to get hurt in the end."

"I know." Piper's eyes glazed up. "I know full well I'm going to get hurt in the end, whatever happens. But it doesn't matter anymore. Our quest is about bringing him back home. All I really want is to see him, and I want to see him happy, even if....even if I see him with someone else."

Her body language was saying otherwise. She was shaking, and she was openly displaying her sadness. The lengths Piper would see him was admirable and even almost romantic, but it would have cost her so much. It seemed like at that moment she was considering turning back and going back home.

Hazel recalled the memories she had seen in Piper's mind, the buried memories of the Mist. It was a long time ago, but those emotions were still so intense that it was easy to be overwhelmed with them. There was no resolution the relationship between them, and the limbo was killing Piper inside.

It was killing Hazel, too, because she shouldn't be in possession of these memories. They did not belong to her at all, but here they were, remembering them as if they had also belonged to her. 

"What do you want out of this?" Hazel asked.

"I just want...." Piper's breath was shaky. "I just want some closure from all of this. If he still feels the same way, then I'm open to exploring that. But if I see him with someone else, then I know. That's all I'm asking right now. Full, concrete, material evidence of what's in front of me instead of being doubtful all the time, instead of guessing what the other person thinks."

Tears streamed down Piper's cheeks. She tried so hard to look and be strong, but it couldn't be helped. In that moment, Piper allowed herself to cry, because this was how she truly felt. 

Hazel tried to sit up. She opened her arms wide, and Piper closed the distance between them through a hug.

###

The Three Sisters of Oregon loomed in the horizon as they entered the state. Faith, Hope, and Charity stood with vigilance over the flora and fauna as guardians. These volcanoes lay dormant and quiet, with no ash falling upon the world.

Piper's motorcycle chugged and struggled through the rocky landscape. It had seen a lot of actions already in the past four days. Animals looked on as they illegally crossed what was probably a conservation and preservation site of the wildlife. She looked into the sky to find any sign of any flying bronze dragons. 

They made it to the base of Faith, the north sister volcano. She was the largest and most dangerous one out of all three sisters, and when they got there, there were a lot of travel and climbing advisories asking visitors and climbers to always check weather conditions and being prepared. Piper and Hazel started gearing up for the climb. They suited up with large coats, scarves, boots, toques, night-vision goggles, flashlights, and climbing gear. They had their swords and daggers on their sides. The Hephaestus cabin had given them specialized gloves that had spike grips, which helped, but wouldn't help so much if they decided they wanted to scratch their nose.

They began their climb at sunset. They followed the designated hiker's paths in the first half of the climb. Along the way, bodies of dead hikers served as markers of where not to go and what not do.

Monsters reside sleeping behind caves and rock formations within and unto the volcano. When one would come out to challenge them, Piper would battle them, oftentimes by herself, with just her sword and her wits. Sometimes she would just simply cut them down, sometimes she would have to work harder to bring down the enemy. Nevertheless, she was powered by sheer determination and will, to reach her goal, to finish her quest. She wasn't even sure if he was up there, where she needed to go. She didn't even know what was going to be at the mouth of the volcano. 

Hazel trailed behind her, not too far but not too close. Something about the Three Sisters was telling her something was off. The Mist was so strong here that she was almost suffocating. Coughing and inhaling dust...

Why was the Mist so strong? Why was she feeling sick? Hazel raised both of her hands and channelled her strength into the Mist. She had often used the Mist for making illusions in battle. But now, she was using to reveal truths. No lie would ever escape her.

The peaceful and quiet night sky shimmered to reveal dark evening clouds covering the world, with falling ashes around them. The volcano they were climbing was angry, but it was not erupting, it was not violent. Hazel gasped at this revelation. The Mist seemed to be hiding the façade of peace and tranquillity when instead the earth was disturbed. Disturbed by what, Hazel didn't know, and she would want to find that out.

She placed her hand on the earth and sensed all the crystals. But they too were also singing of pain. They wished not to be touched or summoned into the surface, or else they would scream eternally. No one would hear their wailing except for Hazel. 

Hazel was about to dash to Piper to tell her this volcano when something--or someone, was materializing in front of her. It was a woman with no hair, and beautiful golden eyes, glowing in the evening light. She wore a long brown dress that accentuated her even browner skin. She could have been an adult version of Hazel, but she carried the essence of the volcano, shimmering and fading when looked upon by mortal eyes. It was the spirit of the north sister, Faith. 

"Someone had lifted the curtain of my essence." Faith began, looking blankly towards Hazel. "I had to find out who it was, and I am quite surprised. In front of me is the daughter of Pluto that is shaking Olympus right now."

Hazel drew her sword. She wasn't sure if her weapon would cut down the spirit, or if the spirit was going to be hostile to her. This journey had roughened her up, physically and emotionally. "What do you want, spirit?" 

"I want for nothing. But I am coming to you with a word of caution. You will not be able to save your friends," the spirit said. "You have bestowed them forbidden knowledge of their past love. The ripple effect of this will not only change them forever, but it will change the course of time. You should not have defied Fate, Hazel Levesque."

"How can knowledge of this past suddenly bring the downfall of the world, if that is what you mean? Why do we need to hide this from them?"

"Your friends follow a predetermined path as the Fates and the prophecies dictate. The daughter of Aphrodite is destined to be with the son of Jupiter, and the son of Hephaestus is to be with the daughter of the Titan. This is what the Fates have decided. If such knowledge is set out to the world, then the threads would be severed, and the wheel falls apart. There has been a failsafe in place if these two people ever came to remember their memories." The spirit paused. "But the gods of Olympus did not factor in your interference." 

She looked upon the volcano. "My sisters and I are trying to mend the fabric of the Mist back to its true health. All the other nature spirits have also lent their energy to make sure the world still falls into the laws of principles." 

She asked meekly, "Did I....did I break it?"

"No...but the fact that you were able to manipulate it in the mind of a mortal shows how weak the Mist has become...or how stronger you've become." Faith looked at Hazel straight in the eye, and it was piercing. "I'm coming to you for your help, daughter of the Mist. Help us heal it." 

Hazel lowered her sword. "Why do we want to heal it?" 

"Our world should remain separate from the mortal world, always. In this part, I am almost to the brink of eruption, but what your friend sees is merely nothing but peace except the eruption of her own heart. But her eyes are not lying. What is happening are true. She merely does not want to see the pain. You, however, see both worlds, Hazel Levesque, and that is a blessing and a curse." 

Hazel looked into the mouth of the volcano, which was glowing orange. She understood now. This was a personification of the schism in Piper's heart. She was a powerful enough demigod that the world was feeling the anguish with her. She was not the descendant of the Big Three to labour such command of the world, but everything was affected because of the conflict of certain elements: the daughter of love was heartbroken. 

"Can I really not save Piper?" Hazel whispered. "She's in...so much pain. I'm in pain too, carrying all of this, and these don't even belong to me." 

The spirit shimmered a little. "You can save her. And that is through healing the Mist."

"How can I help her? And Leo? And everyone else?"

"By restoring the balance back in the Mist. You must take her memories away."

Hazel gripped the handle of her sword. In the bottom of her heart, she knew it would come to this, but the answer still disappointed her so much. "But...why? Why do I have to hide the truth again from her?"

"The truth has done nothing for her. She knows her place in this world. She knows where her real priorities lay: restoring peace between the camps, and becoming an aid to the next prophecy. Her delving in the matters of the heart has strayed her from the path of destiny. It is time to rectify that."

"I..." "I can't do that. I can't undo what I've done."

"It is not that you cannot do it, it is because will not do it. I admire you, Hazel Levesque, for being a Truth-Seeker. However, think about it. Understand that your powers are not to be used lightly. I am certain you have learned a good lesson from this." The spirit slowly disappeared, leaving Hazel alone with her thoughts and revelations.

###

The second leg of the climb began. Piper wasn't seeing the world the way Hazel was. She was probably seeing just a serene night while the daughter of Pluto saw the world on fire. 

They climbed the face side of the volcano. It was not complete darkness, as the blue hour had begun. Piper had begun slowing down from. The wounds and the exhaustion that accumulated from this journey was finally getting into her. The only thing keeping her going was idea of falling off, and of course she didn't want to fall. She huffed and each rock she held as she ascended was labouring. 

Hazel had remained silent the whole way up. She still trailed behind still. The conversation she had with the spirit of the mountain had put Hazel behind, and it took all in her to catch up with her friend. 

"Piper..." she whispered into the night. "I have...something to tell you."

Piper didn't say anything. She either couldn't hear it, or she was too tired to respond to it. She kept going, coughing and panting from the air and pain. 

The falling ash was getting on their face and into their clothes. Piper didn't realize that the source of her coughing fits was because she had been swallowing dust, ashfall that she wasn't seeing but was feeling in her soul regardless. Hazel wondered would seeing Leo even quiet the storm in Piper, or would make it worse. The conditions around this situation was so precarious. The Fates may decide the destiny of demigods, but it could never really predict human emotions.

Hazel wanted to stop Piper from reaching the top, to warn her about what was going to happen. This quest was just a glimpse of something far more terrible if they didn't do anything. 

The heat of the lava from the mouth was becoming more prominent the higher they climbed. There were still no signs of Festus, from the skies or even from the top. Now she was the one forming doubts in her mind regarding this quest.   
  
Piper, at last for the final time, reached out towards the sky and clamped her hand on the ledge of the volcano's mouth. She scrambled up and looked onwards, walking towards the centre--where the lava would be waiting for her. Hazel's heart froze. Could it be that this quest was not about finding Leo, but about how she was going to deal with her schisms? Like the walks along Long Island Sound and into the water? 

Hazel yelled Piper's name. Her body moved with such urgency. She wouldn't think of her doing deliberate harm to herself, but from previous incidents, Piper wouldn't be aware that she was doing self-harm in the first place. 

Hazel finally placed her hand on the ledge and clambered into the top. Dawn broke slowly across the thin horizon. On the other side of the mouth was a boy sitting on the ground, whose back was turned towards Piper and Hazel. His head had bandages around it, but dark curly peaked through the spots that were not covered by the bandages. His brown jacket was ripped and dirtied. He was facing the coming sun, in a meditative position. 

Piper walked towards this figure. She took off her climbing goggles and her toque, letting her hair down to her shoulders. The wind caressed it in response. Here, no ash was falling, and the anger of the volcano was not felt as strongly; it had calmed down. The crystals underground sighed in relief. 

Leo turned, looking away from the rising sun, and saw Piper. They stared at each other for what felt like eternity; time seemed to have stopped the moment they locked eyes. With the sun, the sky revealed splendid colours. It took Hazel's breath away.

Everything Piper wanted to say, and everything Leo wanted to say, was laid out in front of them, in the space between. In another world, in another universe, Piper would have reacted more differently. She would have been more angry, more hurt. But the context of this reunion had changed. This was the moment they had been waiting for a long time. 

Piper ran to him. Leo opened his arms and they locked each other into a tight embrace. "I found you," Piper whispered. "I finally found you." 

Leo brushed his fingers through her hair. "You did." He took his bruised hands and cupped her cheeks. Their foreheads touched and they sank to the ground, the sunrise basking them with much-needed warmth, after days and weeks of loneliness and uncertainty of where their fates would lay. 

Hazel stayed from the distance and smiled, the first genuine smile for a long time ever since the end of the war. The turmoil in her heart still raged as the mind kept reminding her of the choice she was going to make. But this was overwhelmed by a sense of joy as two of her friends have finally been reunited. At that moment, all seem to feel right in the world. 


End file.
